Tag: Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin has been trying very hard to convince the world that he needs to intervene in Ukraine to “protect” Pro-Russian citizens. Half way around the world, the Bureau of Land Management has tried to convince the US that it is protecting endangered turtles from trespassing cattle in Nevada. Both causes have been undermined by the power of the internet.

Reports have been flooding out of Ukraine of captured Russian intelligence officers, troops operating inside Ukrainian borders with identifying unit patches and tags removed, and even of a Russian bank making $200 and $500 daily payments to Russian “terrorists” working to destabilize the Eastern region of Ukraine.

Pro-Russian forces have stirred up riots, taken over police and government buildings and have even attacked an airport. All the while about 40,000 Russian combat troops are hanging near Ukraine’s border. This has put Ukraine in a catch-22, either they let the unrest continue and risk civil war, or move against the trouble areas with force risking an invasion by Putin to “protect” Russian citizens like he did in Crimea.

Other than what some call Putin’s propaganda machine, the Russian Times (RT.com), no one is really falling for Putin’s cause. The internet has been saturated with anti-Russian social media posts, revealing pictures of what appear to be Russian troops in Ukraine, and reports of captured Russian operatives.

Closer to home, the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sent a mini-army of a couple hundred enforcement agents, contract workers, K-9 units and snipers into Nevada to “protect” endangered desert turtles. BLM claimed trespassing free roaming cattle from Clive Bundy’s ranch was putting endangered animals at risk. So they sent a large force in to confiscate the cattle.

Within days the internet was filled with images like this:

Apparently the BLM set up fenced in areas for reporters. Well this didn’t go over very well – no one used them and pictures again flooded the internet of the “First Amendment Area” signs with another sign added underneath saying, “The First Amendment is not an Area”. The fenced in areas were removed shortly thereafter.

Report of abuse by Federal officers also flooded the internet. One scuffle ensued between BLM officers and Bundy family members & supporters. A statement to the press by the BLM stated that the scuffle started when a K-9 dog was kicked. But again, this video flooded the interwebs showing that the real story might be different:

You can see from the video that at 23 seconds, a federal agent tackles a 50 year old lady from behind and seems to throw her to the ground. At 1:04 a K-9 officer appears to give both verbal and visual command for his dog to bite, and then again at 1:06.

The BLM has since stood down and has decided to fight the battle out in court. But again more reports have surfaced via the internet that the BLM wants to remove the cattle so that a Solar Power plant can be installed by a Chinese company, and that it has nothing whatsoever to do with trying to save turtles.

Some websites are claiming that the solar power plant report isn’t true, but it is very odd that the Federal Government would send in such a strong force to protect some turtles from cows. Especially when our southern border which needs additional help seems to get none.

But the truth is that in both cases presented here, the conflict in Ukraine and the BLM’s actions in Nevada, social media has had a huge impact of both public opinion and public action.

Vladimir Putin is Russia’s president again (did he ever leave?), let Cold War 2.0 begin.

Love him or hate him, looks like Putin is the Russian president again. Though there are heavy challenges to the election’s legitimacy, and proof of voter fraud, check out these multiple votes:

The election will stand. Why? Even though his election count was surely padded, many Russians want him. I remember seeing a poll last year of Russian citizens. An overwhelming majority wanted the countries that broke away from Russian rule after being “liberated” during WWII to be returned to Russian control.

Putin wants a strong Russia and maybe even a return to the Cold War times with the US. He has pledged to increase military spending significantly. According to The Moscow News:

“His pledge included funds to build over 400 modern intercontinental ballistic missiles, 28 submarines, over 50 military surface vehicles, 600 modern warplanes, and anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems.”

Putin’s reasoning?

“This is not a militarization of the Russian budget,” Putin said in an article titled: “Being strong is a guarantee of Russia’s national security,” published in the government’s official newspaper, Rossiiskaya Gazeta. “It’s obvious we cannot strengthen our international position, develop the economy and democratic institutions if we are not able to defend Russia.”

One would have to ask “Defend Russia from who?”

President Obama folded when confronted by Russia about the US missile defense shield in Europe. According to a 2009 CNN article, Poland and the Czech Republic were depending on the missile shield as protection against Russian aggression:

Poland and the Czech Republic had based much of their future security policy on getting the missile defenses from the United States. The countries share deep concerns of a future military threat from the east — namely, Russia — and may now look for other defense assurances from their NATO allies.

With Putin fully in-charge again, you can expect anti-West rhetoric to increase. Heck, even Russia’s “Pravda” news website is getting in on the action. Check out these screenshots of Pravda.ru from yesterday. Here is what Russian readers saw (translated):

A nice up-beat news spread about Putin’s election bid. Now, what did the English version of the Webpage look like?

Let’s see, we have:

Exposed:The handbook of American State Terrorism

North Korea Throws dust in the USA’s Eyes

Iranian Mosquitoes to bite US Navy Hard

Putin and the Tall Wall Against Western Mischief

Russia Confirms Foreign Invasion of Syria

Latin America prepared for US Financial Burst

A slight difference in article selections.

Well, looks like the Cold War and anti-West sentiment may heat up again, especially with Putin at the helm.